Bees

The Backyard Bee Team runs into some major problems. The head beekeper (aka Simon) is allergic to bees! With Frank and Mary Ann Lindsay and immunology consultant Richard Steele. Audio

Scientists have developed a genetic technique that could wipe out the Varroa mite parasite that kills honey bees. Audio

Bees are hard at work across Auckland pollinating our summer crops and making beautiful honey. There is one apiarist or bee keeper in particular, who is helping to encourage Aucklanders into keeping… Audio

Thomas Seeley's book 'Honeybee Democracy' looks at why bees swarm in the spring and the decision-making processes that go on when thousands of bees and a queen decide to leave their hive and find a… Audio

Simon tells us how honey bees from Japan and Cyprus have evolved a defence that is just the bee's knees when it comes to defending their nests against a formidable predator - hornets. Audio

The Backyard Bee Team goes into expansion mode. After a bumper honey harvest last year, bee mentor David Carleton helps us move in a new hive. Audio

Bug time now and as you can probably hear - today we're doing bees. Audio

Leader of the Bee Unit at Plant and amp; Food Research, who has just been awarded an NZ Science and Technology Medal for his work on honey bees and crop pollination practices. Audio

In the UK, bees are being promoted as pets for city dwellers. Johannes Paul on the 'Beehaus', specially designed for urban beekeeping. Audio

Scientists in Australia are in a buzz after proving that different species of bees can learn each other's 'languages'. Audio

Peter Dearden and Rosannah McCartney are looking at how two distinct types of female honey bees can stem from one genome. Audio

Bee mentor David Carleton sorts out the hive for winter. Audio

After recent disasters affecting the backyard bee team are we ever going to get any honey? Audio

Rowan Jacobsen on colony collapse disorder. It's killing billions of the world's honeybees but nobody really knows why. Audio

We're having some issues in the hive, getting through more queens than Henry VIII! But we do have a new queen and she’s laying a nice pattern. Audio

The queen bee's gone AWOL and taken thousands of workers with her! I got back for a relaxing few weeks away and checked the hive, sadly there were hardly any bees and no fresh eggs or larvae. It looks… Audio

The Backyard Bee team checks in with the hive before the Christmas break. I find out what my 50,000 bees will need over the holidays. Audio

Dr Nigel Raine speaks about the differences between honey bees and bumble bees and the navigational systems they use. Audio

David Carleton and I are opening up the hive to check that our queen is alive and well and see how the bees are getting on with producing honey. Audio

Frank Lindsay, who's a commercial beekeeper, drops round with the swarm he's been looking after and gets me to open my hive and merge the two colonies. The reason for merging the two colonies is to… Audio